Fixture element



1944. P. B. SHAILER 2,356,703

.FIXTURE ELEMENT Filed April so, 1943 Patented Aug. 22, 1944 FIXTURE ELEMENT Philip B. Shailer, Middlebury, Conn, assignor to The Autoyre Company, Incorporated, Oakville, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application April 30, 1943, Serial No. 485,188

8 Claims.

This invention relates to towel bars and similar fixtures for bathroom and kitchen use, and particularly to fixture constructions comprising metal-surfaced bars of novel character.

Metal fixtures, particularly towel bars of the type adapted to be installed by the man of the house have gone into most extensive use in recent years. In general these involve round or square, hollow or solid metal rods, nickel or chromium plated, and Welded or riveted to support-engaging brackets which may be screwed or clamped to a wall surface or plumbing fixture. By their very nature, metal towel bars or fixtures of this sort must be sold for a very low price. On the other hand, the conspicuous position they occupy in use makes it important that they present an attractive appearance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new construction comprising a bar employing a minimum weight of material for its apparent cross section and presenting a new, distinctive, and highly pleasing appearance. While the invention is herein disclosed as applied to towel bars, it is not limited thereto, but is applicable generally to bathroom, kitchen, and similar fixtures embodying metal surfaced bars.

For a more complete understandin of the invention and for other objects and advantages thereof, reference should now be had to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a towel bar embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and showing the bar or rod in section.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the new bar or rod illustrating its reflecting and image-forming properties.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of a square wire rod showing in dotted lines the comparative cross sections of a concave diamond-shaped rod which will give the appearance of being the same size.

Referring now to the drawing, the invention is shown in Fig. l as applied to a towel bar comprising a pair of spaced supporting brackets in,

, and a towel-receiving bar l4 having inturned leg portions l2, the legs l2 and bar It being formed of a. single rod with rounded right angle bends between the leg portions l2 and the towelsupporting portion Id. The legs l2 are preferably joined to the brackets I by spot welding, or by any other suitable fastening means, and the brackets H] are provided, as shown, with holes l8 for fastenin them to a wall surface.

The towel bar M, which is shown as solid but which may be hollow if desired, is generally diamond-shaped in cross section, the sides 20 of the diamond cross section being concave, with a relatively large radius of concavity. The radius of concavity is preferably on the order of magnitude of inch for rods having sides approximately ,4 inch wide, i. e., a radius approximately three times the width of a side. Where the rod is formed with a relatively smooth and lustrous metallic reflecting surface, an exceptionally desirable lustrous high-lighted effect is obtained.

The rod may be formed of solid metal itself capable of providing a mirror-like surface, or the rod may be formed of any suitable strong material adaptable for plating or otherwise receiving a coating of metal on its surface. When formed of metal, either with or without a plated finishing coat, the rod is preferably formed in accordance with the invention described and claimed in the copending application of Arthur F. Lewis;

Jr., Serial No. 485,210, filed April 30, 1943, en titled Method and apparatus for manufacturing metallic elements. It is important, in any,

event, thatthe surfaces possess at least to some extent the mirror-like properties and characteristic of smooth metal surfaces in order to achieve the new high-lighted efiect.

The novel high-lighted characteristic appearance of the new towel bar is apparently due to the formation in front of the rod surfaces of real images reflected from the rod surface. Referring to Fig. 3, which shows an enlarged cross section of a towel bar l4 according to my invention, there is demonstrated the action of light rays impinging on the concave mirror-like surface 29 .of the towel bar l4. Light rays coming from an object 22 at a distant point fall on the mirror surface of the rod or bar and are reflected back. In accordance with established principles of optics, the rays combine to form a real image in front of the surface of the towel bar. Light rays impinging on the towel bar surface from other angles form similar real images and the net result of the formation of numerous "real images is to conceal finger prints, cloudiness, or water spots on the surfaces of the towel bar very effectively, and to give a rich appearing high-lighted effect.

Also, it is found that a substantially diamond shaped rod having concave sides as described above, and disposed with its longer diameter sub stantially vertical, presents an appearance of solidity and strength and gives the impression of a greater bulk of metal than is actually present.

In a highly competitive field such as is encountered in the sale of towel bars, towel racks, or other fixtures of the type to which the present invention relates, it will be understood that the saving of even a small percentage of the metal used is of great importance. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the cross section of a towel bar comprising the concave diamond-shaped cross section bar according to the invention may require over 20% less metal in the towel bar than in a square towel bar 24 heretofore known, yet, notwithstanding their smaller cross-sectional area, the new towel bars give an appearance of equal or greater bulk. Also, due to the relatively large vertical dimension of the bar, the force arm at the joint between the towel bar and the brackets is as large as that of a square or round bar of considerably greater cross section, so that the joint between the bar and the bases is exceptionally stron for the cross section of the bar involved.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made, and I, there fore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modification as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fixture, a bar having angularly-related longitudinally extending faces, the faces of said bar comprising relatively smooth metallic reflecting surfaces concave about axes parallel to the bar, the angular relation and concavity of the reflecting surfaces cooperating to provide relatively large vertical and horizontal dimensions notwithstanding the relatively small cross sectional-area of the :bar, and to give a distinctive high-light effect thereby substantially to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of said surfaces.

2. In a fixture, a bar having angularly-related longitudinally extending faces and a generally diamond-shaped cross section, said longitudinally extending faces of said bar being concave about axes parallel to and a substantial distance from the bar and having relatively smooth metallic reflecting surfaces, the diamond-shaped cross section and concave reflecting surfaces cooperating to provide relatively large vertical and horizontal dimensions notwithstanding the relatively small cross sectional area of the bar, and to give a distinctive high-light effect thereby substantially to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of said surfaces.

3. In a fixture, a bar having angularly-related longitudinally-extending faces and a generally diamond-shaped cross section, said longitudinally-extending faces of said bar being concave about axes parallel to and a substantial distance from the bar, a metal plating on said faces providing relatively smooth reflecting surfaces, the diamond-shaped cross section and concave reflecting surfaces cooperating to provide relatively large vertical and horizontal dimensions and apparent bulk notwithstanding the relatively small cross sectional area of the bar, and to give a distinctive high-light effect thereby substantially to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of said surfaces.

4. In a fixture, a towel bar having angularlyrelated longitudinally-extending faces, said longitudinally-extending faces of the towel bar being concave about axes parallel to and a substantial distance from the bar, and having relatively smooth mirror-like metallic reflecting surfaces, the angular relation and concavity of the refleeting surfaces cooperating to provide relatively large diagonal dimensions notwithstanding the relatively small cross-sectional area of the bar, and to form real images in front of the surfaces to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of the surface and give a distinctive highlight effect thereby substantially to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of said surfaces.

5. In a rack for towels, a towel bar having angularly-related longitudinally-extending faces and a generally diamond shaped cross section supported in towel-receiving position with its longer diagonal substantially vertical, said longitudinally extending faces of said towel bar being concave about axes parallel to, and spaced from the bar a distance on the order of magnitude of three times the width of a face of the bar, and having relatively smooth mirror-like metallic reflecting surfaces, the diamond-shaped cross section and concave reflecting surfaces cooperating to provide relatively large vertical and horizontal dimensions and apparent bulk notwithstanding the relatively small cross-sectional area of the bar, and to give a distinctive high-light effect thereby substantially to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of said surfaces.

6. In a fixture, a metallic towel bar having angularly-related longitudinally-extending faces and a generally diamond shaped cross section supported in towel-receiving position with its longer diagonal substantially vertical, said longitudinally-extending faces of said towel bar being concave about axes, parallel to and spaced from the bar a distance on the order of magnitude of three times the width of a face of the bar, and having relatively smooth, mirror-like reflecting surfaces, the diamond-shaped cross section and concave reflecting surfaces cooperating to provide relatively large vertical and horizontal dimensions and apparent bulk, notwithstanding the relatively small cross-sectional area of the bar, and to give a distinctive high-light effect thereby substantially to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of said surfaces.

'7. In a fixture, a bar having anguJarly-related longitudinally-extending faces and a generally diamond-shaped cross section supported with its longer diagonal substantially vertical, said longitudinally-extending faces of the bar being concave about axes parallel to and a substantial distance from the bar, and having relatively smooth mirror-like metallic reflecting surfaces, the angular relation and concavity of the diamond-shaped cross section and concave reflecting surfaces cooperating to provide relatively large vertical and horizontal dimensions and apparent bulk notwithstanding the relatively small crosssectional area of the bar, and to give a distinctive high-light effect thereby substantially to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of said surfaces.

8. A metal fixture comprising spaced apart wallen'gaging brackets and supporting legs fixed to said brackets, a towel-receiving bar portion extending between said legs and supported thereby in towel-receiving position, said bar portion having angularly-related longitudinally-extending faces and a generally diamond shaped cross section with its longer diagonal substantially vertical when said brackets are secured to a wall or the like, the longitudinally extending faces of said bar portion being concave about axes, parallel to, and spaced from the bar portion a distance on the order of magnitude of three times the width of a face of the bar portion, and providing relatively smooth mirror-like metallic reflecting surfaces, the diamond-shaped cross section and concave reflecting surfaces cooperating to provide relatively large vertical and horizontal dimensions and apparent bulk notwithstanding the relatively small cross-sectional area of the bar portion, and to form real images in front of the surfaces to conceal imperfections and cloudiness of the surface and give a distinctive high-light effect.

PHILIP B. SHAILER. 

